OK, here's a break down of the how's and why's of the emissions equipment on the car. The only part of the emissions system that really affects performance are the cats - everything else is just in the way, and removal helps with simplicity.

MAIN CAT/PRE-CAT - This is always the first step, as all the other components support these guys. Remove and replace with downpipe/presilencer/straight pipe/whatever.

SPLIT AIR PIPE - this is the air pipe that injects air into the cat. With the cat gone, you can remove this sucker. You don't have to cap up the hole if you remove the air pump - with the air pump gone, that hole is just dead space - it's not a vacuum leak or anything. But, capping it can lead to a cleaner look.

AIR CONTROL VALVE - this is on the lower intake manifold, and the air pump feeds air into it. The ACV controls where the air pump's air goes - into the main cat, into the exhaust manifold, or into the silencer that's under the passenger side headlight. The '89-91 NA's have their 6-ports and VDI actuated from air pump pressure, so the ACV is required unless you fab something up. To remove the ACV, pull it off, remove the studs, put in a fresh gasket and a block-off plate. Make sure to cap off the vacuum lines that went to the ACV as well, and secure the wires up that went to it.

AIR PUMP - if you can ditch the ACV, you can ditch the air pump. With the air pump gone, consider getting a dual-belt alternator pulley - with only one belt on the water pump, you can have slipping. A good Dayco belt can run the alternator with one belt and no slipping, but having 2 is good for redundancy. The air pump's only function is to create pressurized air for the cat and manifold for emissions reasons. Removing it frees up little, if any, horsepower - the pump doesn't put much load on the engine at all. But, it is big-time in the way and a royal pain to remove and replace.

EGR VALVE - this valve injects exhaust gasses into the combustion chamber under certain circumstances to lower combustion temperatures to prevent the formation of NOx, which is a greenhouse gas. The EGR valve doesn't really affect performance one way or the other, but a bad one can make for a lousy idle. To remove, install a block-off plate and cap the vacuum line.

AIR RELIEF SILENCER - this is a canister that's under the passenger side headlight. It's just an air muffler for the air pump. It's a bit of a pain to remove, and it's not really in the way, but you can take it out anyhow .

It's lunchtime - I'll follow this up with a post on removing the metal vacuum spider and solenoids, which is a big topic unto itself.

This is the tricky part of the equation. It's not super hard, but it will require some creativity and understanding to do. Again, the only reason to do this is to clean up the engine bay and get something else that doesn't need to be there outta there.

On top of the engine is the metal vacuum spider - a maze of metal vacuum lines. The majority of these are emissions-related. You have to remove the upper intake manifold to have access. Mind, I'll try to note the differences, but there's quite a few differences from '86-88 and '89-91, as well as NA and Turbo.

Easiest way to describe this is what you'll need when it's all done.

FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR - this is on the end of the primary fuel rail. There is a nipple on the lower intake manifold pointing towards the firewall that is its vacuum source. When in doubt, check the vacuum diagram in the shop manual - stock, the source nipple connects to the vacuum spider, goes to the orange solenoid, then back to the FPR. The only thing the solenoid does is switch the FPR's vacuum reference from vacuum to atmospheric pressure. There is NO DIFFERENCE in driveability or starting with the solenoid not there.

OIL METERING INJECTORS - each of the 4 injectors has a vacuum line that connects to a round gang block, and from there it connects with a larger vacuum hose to the upper intake manifold.

PRIMARY INJECTOR BLEED SOCKET - there is a vacuum nipple in the middle of the bottom of the intake manfold, near where the primary injectors are. This vacuum hose goes to the upper intake manifold. This line actually pulls vacuum from *before* the throttle plates, and uses this differential pressure to help atomize fuel at certain conditions. This is a Good Thing. Just run the hose like stock, and make sure it goes to the same vacuum nipple on the upper intake manifold as stock.

SECONDARY INJECTOR BLEED SOCKET - this is only on the '89-91 cars. There is a vacuum line going between the two secondary injector's bleed sockets, and another one sticking out to the side of the #2 secondary injector. Leave that vacuum line, and hook the side nipple up to the upper intake manifold like stock. Again, this is to help with atomization.

PCV SYSTEM - now we're getting complicated . This is the Positive Crankcase Ventilation System, which is there because the oiling system generates pressure which needs to be bled off - it can't be a sealed system. Stock, the system is fed back into the intake, and some residual oil is pulled into the intake, dirtying intercoolers and throttle bodies . On the TurboII, the nipples to be concerned with are just below the oil fill cap, and where the oil fill neck meets the block. The NA's only have the one where the fill neck meets the block (I think). This HAS to be vented - if you cap it up, you will pressurize the crankcase, which can lead to smoking and all kinds of weird problems. Venting it to atmosphere is the easiest solution, but will over time make a mess, as excess oil comes out of the nipple. The right way is to use a catch can that has a filter on it to catch the excess blow-by. Jaz makes a tiny catchcan that works great - Jeg's carries it.

FUEL LINES - you will be running the fuel lines along a longer run. Run a line from the fuel filter to the primary fuel rail, and run a line from the secondary fuel rail to the metal nipple that heads back to the tank. Use ONLY fuel injection rated hose, 5/16" ID, and you need about 6 feet worth to do the job. Zip tie the hoses together and keep it tidy - you don't want them rubbing against things or the like.

SOLENOID PLUGS - when you remove all the solenoids, you will have a number of spare plugs. The ECU doesn't care at all - you won't get a code or anything. Just tuck them out of the way somewhere.

BOOST CONTROL SOLENOID - this is only on '89-91 Turbos. If you're at the point where you're removing the solenoid rack, your car is modified, and you need to ditch this anyhow - it will give you some serious overboosting problems. Remove it, and cap the hole on the turbo inlet duct and the nipple on the metal hard line that feeds the wastegate actuator.

That's all I have off the top of my head . If I think of other issues, I'll post - if you have any questions, I'll see if I can help.

With all the other emmision related parts that could be removed, It's suggested to not remove the Purge Valve and cap It off. Due to pressure build up. Your alternative would be a catch can to remedy this. Right? Unless I'm misunderstanding you.

AIR CONTROL VALVE - this is on the lower intake manifold, and the air pump feeds air into it. The ACV controls where the air pump's air goes - into the main cat, into the exhaust manifold, or into the silencer that's under the passenger side headlight. The '89-91 NA's have their 6-ports and VDI actuated from air pump pressure, so the ACV is required unless you fab something up. To remove the ACV, pull it off, remove the studs, put in a fresh gasket and a block-off plate. Make sure to cap off the vacuum lines that went to the ACV as well, and secure the wires up that went to it.

I was under the impression that the air pump ran those ports in the '86-88 NA's also. Is this a misconception? If so, then to remove the cats and air pump is as straight-forward as unbolting everything, correct?

Originally posted by dcfc3s FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR...
...The only thing the solenoid does is switch the FPR's vacuum reference from vacuum to atmospheric pressure. There is NO DIFFERENCE in driveability or starting with the solenoid not there.

This is the Hot Start Assist System. Opening the solenoid means the FPR doesn't adjust fuel pressure according to manifold pressure, but keeps it at the a fixed pressure that's higher than the normal idle fuel pressure. This only happens if the coolant temp is over 150degF and intake air temp is over 140degF (i.e. the engine's been run recently), to stop "percolation of the fuel" according to the FSM (I think they mean aeration). After ~50sec the solenoid closes and manifold pressure then controls the FPR.
Removing this solenoid won't affect driveability, but I have heard people complain about having poor hot starting/idling without it. I assume Mazda had a good reason for going to all that effort...

Quote:

BOOST CONTROL SOLENOID - this is only on '89-91 Turbos. If you're at the point where you're removing the solenoid rack, your car is modified, and you need to ditch this anyhow - it will give you some serious overboosting problems.

Never heard that before. That solenoid works exactly in the same way as any aftermarket electronic boost controller, by bleeding pressure out of the wastegate line through a pulsed solenoid valve to raise boost. By keeping the valve open (and hence the wastegate closed) until max boost is reached, boost also rises much quicker. Taking it off could mean slower boosting and a lower max boost. It might not work as well with an aftermarket turbo, but it should be fine with the stock turbo. If you're installing an aftermarket EBC, then this solenoid is redundant and can be removed.

Good posts though. Nice to see someone figuring out what all that stuff actually does before ripping it all off.

Move to minnesota! No emissions laws for now-WTF are they thinking? oh well no tears shed by me. that means true dual with precats is just fine to ruin our beautiful earth and let me go faster and louder!

another thing to remove is the AWS! I just upluged mine today. too lazy to start car. I'll find out tomorrow if it causes the CEL to come on. I'll be removing it / pluging it once the FMIC goes in.

The only thing that will trigger a Check Engine light are the "low" codes that have a direct impact on how the engine will run - spark, TPS, water temp sensor, AFM, oil metering pump, etc. ALL the emissions stuff (ACV, solenoid rack, boost sensor) are "freebies" - they will store a code in the computer, but won't throw a check engine light.

Same goes for the ABSV (the right name for the acccelerated warm-up solenoid) - the car doesn't care if it's not there. On turbos, I highly recommend removing it and capping off the two nipples that feed it.

Originally posted by NZConvertible Never heard that before. That solenoid works exactly in the same way as any aftermarket electronic boost controller, by bleeding pressure out of the wastegate line through a pulsed solenoid valve to raise boost. By keeping the valve open (and hence the wastegate closed) until max boost is reached, boost also rises much quicker. Taking it off could mean slower boosting and a lower max boost. It might not work as well with an aftermarket turbo, but it should be fine with the stock turbo. If you're installing an aftermarket EBC, then this solenoid is redundant and can be removed.

Good posts though. Nice to see someone figuring out what all that stuff actually does before ripping it all off.

Remember, the map for the stock boost control solenoid was designed around a stock car - as soon as you open up the exhaust, it will start running into high boost problems. Many Japanese tuners re-chip the ECU and reprogram the stock BCS, which works quite well, but since we have no control over it it's best to ditch it.

An '89-91 turbo with full exhaust and intake can easily creep to 12psi and up with the BCS. Without it, it stays pretty consistently at 8-10 psi.

As far as the FPR solenoid, I had MAJOR reservations about removing it when I first removed my solenoid rack many moons ago. After researching it and discovering it only does its job on hot-start conditions and doesn't affect fuel pressure during running or full-throttle conditions, I ditched it. I haven't noticed on any car that I've done it to any flooding problems that weren't related to something else, like a weak motor or the like. Actually, in many cases, it helps flooding problems by not bumping up the rail pressure when you least need it.

The 3rd gens got a much better hot start assist setup - they have a temperature probe in the fuel rail that can see the actual temp of the fuel and bump up the rail pressure if necessary in a starting situation.

crionic on the s4 the exhaust backpressure from the cat runs the aux ports not the airpump. however if your cats have been removed they probably are not opening. (mine either) this sucks. just look and see if the split air pipe is still there\hooked up. if its not you probably are running on 4 ports. anybody got any good ideas about how to remedy this?

Originally posted by patman crionic on the s4 the exhaust backpressure from the cat runs the aux ports not the airpump. however if your cats have been removed they probably are not opening. (mine either) this sucks. just look and see if the split air pipe is still there\hooked up. if its not you probably are running on 4 ports. anybody got any good ideas about how to remedy this?